I’d be adverse to it, personally, for no other reason than I’ve seen a hell of a lot of horror movies that feature fun-loving young adults venturing into a graveyard for some carousing, and usually ends in tears. (Tears and flesh eating.)
However, as a person who’ll likely one day be a resident of a cemetery, I’d say that personally, I wouldn’t mind people recreating in my patch of the boneyard, as long as you aren’t being assholes, or desecrating my tombstone, or anything. (So, that’s one grave down, 50 years from now. You’re welcome.)
Yes, but just because YOU FEEL that way doesn’t mean that someone else will. And even then, if there is an actual funeral service going on at the gravesite, I wouldn’t blame them if they got pissed that people were BIKING around the cemetary and partying.
Well, don’t go and have casual sex there…it just upsets the undead, and you know where THAT leads.
I used to bike past a cemetary on the way to work in College. Once or twice I rode through it. I looked back once and notices maybe 2 or 3% of the stones had the person’s name on both sides. So, looking one way you see everybody, and looking back only a few people stood out. It was kind of a cathartic moment for me.
There was an extremely large and nice cemetary in the medium sized town I grew up in. Me and my friends used to spend many late nights quietly drinking way on the other side of the hill, near a group of stone tables that were near the mausoleum.
We basically just sat back and relaxed, and never walked around the graves or did anything around the mausoleum. I think it was still somewhat disrespectful and in retrospect don’t find it appropriate. But we were young and no cops ever drove to the back of the cemetery to check for high school kids out drinking.
When I was in high school one of the most popular places to “park” was the cemetery which was on a small hill overlooking the town. It had one of the best views of the town, it was relatively isolated and most of the girls were hesitant about getting out and walking after dark in the cemetery.
Later when I had a job at a big city newspaper, I would take my lunch to a not too faraway cemetery and sit there and eat away from the hustle and bustle of the newsroom.
Had a casual walk through a cemetary in Copenhagen today, it was very pretty. Passed by Niels Bohr and Hans Christian Andersen’s graves, but couldn’t find Kierkegaard. Playing frisbee or roasting some hot dogs definitely would have been inappropriate, but strolling? No.
I’d have no problem with picnics in a cemetary. Likewise, walking through, or biking or rollerblading, or even walking a dog, seems fine to me. (Even to the point of the dog marking the stones. Just seems what dogs do, but if it’s my marker, I’d not mind. I like dogs)
I’d be a bit leery of the beer thing. For one thing - a lot of damage in cemetaries is done by drunken teen and college aged people. It’s going to raise alarms all over the place. But the rest would seem fine to me.
I know of two cemetaries that people like to stroll around in, looking at the architecture and looking for the famous dead people – Mount Auburn Cemetary in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Mount Hope Cemetary in Rochester, N.Y. I wouldn’t be surprised if lots of people picnic in both. I myself have cycled through both. I had a friend who used to cross-country ski through Mt. Hope.
Cal, I have spent hours reading a book at Mt. Hope. It’s such a pleasant place to be, really. I haven’t seen picnickers, but I don’t doubt they’re there.
Cal, I have spent hours reading a book at Mt. Hope. It’s such a pleasant place to be, really. I haven’t seen picnickers, but I don’t doubt they’re there.
Cal, I have spent hours reading a book at Mt. Hope. It’s such a pleasant place to be, really. I haven’t seen picnickers, but I don’t doubt they’re there.
When I was a kid, my hometown had 4th of July fireworks at the local high school. Across the street was a cemetery that was the prime viewing spot (it’s actually the cemetery where F. Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald are buried). Everyone kind of spread their blankets and picnics across the graves. Even as a child, the whole scene offended me. My family would usually go sit somewhere else, but the few times I went with friends, I’d try to sit on the very edge of the grass so I wouldn’t actually be sitting on someone’s grave.
On the other hand, my husband and I went to Boston for our honeymoon and took a little side-trip to Plymouth. We walked around the huge cemetery there (can’t remember what it’s called, but it’s beautiful and up on a hill). We picked out our children’s names from cool names on the graves (don’t worry - we didn’t end up using them).
Before park and recreation services were commonly thought of as municipal services, cemetaries were the only green and open space that existed in big cities. They were very often the site of both active and passive recreation (including picnics). Times have changed, and now there’s usually plenty of other places to recreate, but public cemeteries are still public spaces and as long as there aren’t any rules against active recreation I don’t think it is disprespectful. Just use your common sense and respect that other people may be there for a quieter, more contemplative time.
